The U.S. Dollar was pushed to a 1-week peak versus the Japanese Yen after a report showed China’s annualized GDP was, for all intents and purposes, flat with growth at 7.3% but was better than the decline to 7.2% that analysts had been expecting. At the same time, China’s industrial production edged unexpectedly higher to 7.9%, against expectations of only a small rise to 7.4%. The greenback also received some additional support from a recently issued report from the International Monetary Fund which provided evidence of the clear divergence of growth trajectories between the U.S. and the majority of other developed economies.
As reported at 9:09 am (GMT) in London, the USD/JPY was trading higher at 118.25 Yen, a gain of 0.6% yet slightly off the recently struck 1-week peak at 118.54 Yen. The AUD/USD also got a lift from the Chinese data, and was higher at 0.8210; the Aussie currency tends to get direction from Chinese data as the Australian economy is heavily dependent on China for export and trade.
Euro Pressured as ECB Weighs Options
The EUR/USD was trading at $1.1580, coming off Friday’s 11-year trough at $1.14595 with the Euro still under pressure as the European Central Bank weighs all the possible measures it might take to boost the struggling Eurozone economy. It is expected that the ECB is likely to take up a hybrid approach that includes bond purchases and risk sharing, with national central banks also being encouraged to make separate bond purchases.